This invention relates to a method and apparatus for mounting documents on an elongate sheet of carrier paper and more particularly to such a method and apparatus which first folds the carrier paper and employs the folds to precisely register the documents on the paper.
The technique of employing a web of carrier-mounted documents such as envelopes, letterhead, business forms or the like, in combination with a high-speed printer to quickly and economically perform essentially repetitive printing tasks such as addressing envelopes for a mass mailing is widely recognized. The printer is typically controlled by a computer which times the printer to the advancement of the carrier paper through the printer. Accordingly, proper and regular alignment of the documents on the carrier paper is essential for such purposes.
Prior art methods of attaching such documents to the carrier sheet in proper registry generally tip the document, such as an envelope or letterhead, flat onto the carrier sheet where it is held in place by adhesive. Prior art "tip-on" devices of this type include the Communicator, distributed by Forms Manufacturing Equipment, Inc., of Orlando, Florida, and the Hunkeler, manufactured by Joseph Hunkeler, Ltd., Wikon, Switzerland. Since these machines place the document flat onto a flat carrier sheet, they must employ relatively expensive and complicated mechanisms to ensure that the documents are properly aligned or registered on the carrier sheet, with respect to the carrier sheet and with respect to each other. Proper registry is typically accomplished either by causing the document to move at the same speed as the carrier sheet as the document is placed onto the continuously moving carrier sheet or intermittently stopping the carrier sheet to place a document thereon, then advancing the carrier sheet and stopping it again to place another document. As a consequence, both types of machines are limited in the rate at which they can assemble documents onto the carrier sheet. After the documents have been attached to the carrier sheet, the carrier sheet with the documents mounted thereon typically must be folded into a web suitable for use in a printer.
Applicant is also aware of two contemporaneous tip-on devices which may not be prior art with respect to the present invention, the TT Envelope Attaching Machine manufactured by Nale, Inc., of Woodstock, Georgia, and a device used by Jonergin of Fort Lee, New Jersey. Both of these devices also apply the document to a flat carrier sheet, the Nale device appearing to employ the intermittent method of registry while the Jonergin device appears to match the document speed to the speed of a continuously moving carrier sheet. Consequently, these latter devices are similarly limited in the rate at which they can assemble documents onto the carrier sheet.